Two for Tea

Good arguments all around. I love the way we can argue back and forth about Afghanistan without treading on eggshells; without the feeling that we are in danger of breaking something fragile; something we consider to be almost sacred.

The atmosphere changes drastically, when we try to talk about our own country. Immediately, the long knives come out - accusations of 'racism' from the Left; 'socialism' from the right. Throw in words like 'stupid' and 'burlesque', and you have the makings of a colorful salad that no one wants to eat.

I took an informal survey re the proposed 9/12 March on Washington yesterday - just my facebook contacts. Most had no idea what I was talking about; a few were cautiously optimistic, and some even went so far as deleting my name from their contact list - just for asking the question, "Are you planning on going to the '9/12 March on Washington'?"

What this tells me is that the MSM is set to ignore the event entirely. This means that those who had expected to go and make a big splash will be hugely disappointed. Unless something ghoulish happens, the national media will barely snicker. The good news is that the Left will stay home. There should be no confrontations. And the whole thing will be reported simply as Saturday afternoon's stroll in the park.

And therein lies the problem: Saturday. People are off work anyway. The next day they can sleep late. They're not losing a day's pay. If the weather is in any way cooperative, they're risking nothing.

You can't fight the system without taking a risk. If McCain had been elected, the Left would be out there every other day smashing windows; burning cars, and getting themselves arrested. I understand that our ways are non-violent. It is the one principle that will secure our eventual victory.

In a previous post I wrote about the concept of a bandh within the context of a political movement. The word in Hindi means ‘closed’. In practice it means, nothing moves – shops stay closed; no cars; no buses – usually for the duration of a day. Here, in India, a political party will call for a bandh when it wants to demonstrate its strength. If there are two parties - somewhat evenly matched, just before elections – party X will call for a bandh on Monday; Y will then call for the same on Thursday. Both days, business grinds to a halt. But notice is taken (because of its financial ramifications) – quite unlike if just a bunch of people decided to attend the Mad Hatter’s tea party in the park on a sunny Saturday afternoon.